Pursuant to Article 32, item 12 and Article 109 of the Law on Election of Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, the State Election Commission at its session held on August 7, 2002 adopted

CODE setting forth the rules and procedure for observing the elections and election procedures by domestic and foreign observers

The members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia are elected in general, direct and free elections, by secret ballot. No-one is allowed to call the voter to account for his voting, or ask him to say for whom he has voted, or why he has not voted.

The Code aims to define the rules for observing the elections and election procedures, and the procedure for carrying out an observation mission by domestic and foreign observers, all of which would provide for better integrity and transparency of the elections.

I. Rules for observing the elections

The rules are a compilation of practical guidelines for carrying out the observation of elections and election procedures:

- The observers should know and respect election laws and abide by regulations setting forth the procedure for election of members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; - The observers are impartial in the performance of their duties and shall never express bias against election bodies, political parties, groups of voters, candidates for members of Parliament, or with respect to any disputable issue that might arise in the election process; - The observers shall not interfere in the election process, in the procedure carried out on Election Day, or in the procedure for counting ballots; - The observers are obliged to carry with them personal IDs and the identification document (badge) issued by the State Election Commission; - The observers are not allowed to have any partisan marks or symbols; - The observers may not give instructions or influence, in any other way, the work and decisions of the election bodies; - The observers shall not give any personal and premature comments in connec tion with the observation to the media or to other interested persons; - The observers shall base their conclusions on well-documented and confirmed facts.

II. Determination of the procedure for carrying out an observation mission

The organizations and individuals set forth in Article 109 of the Law for Election of Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia shall obtain the status of observers once they receive authorization from the State Election Commission.

The following shall have the right to submit requests to the State Election Commission to obtain the status of observer: 1. registered domestic and foreign associations of citizens of the Republic of Macedonia and registered associations of foreign countries, the statute of which includes the principles of democracy and the protection of human rights; 2. international organizations, and; 3. representatives of foreign countries.

The request to observe the elections along with the necessary documents is submitted to the State Election Commission from the day the elections are announced until 10 days before Election Day.

While visiting the premises of the election bodies and polling stations the observers shall show: their authorization, their identification documents, and the identification documents (badges) issued by the State Election Commission.

The State Election Commission shall give authorizations to the registered domestic and foreign associations of citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, and registered associations of foreign countries, international organizations and representatives of foreign countries, and issue identification documents (badges) to the observers.

The identification documents (badges) are rectangular. The flag of the Republic of Macedonia is on the upper left corner, while on the upper right corner the following text is written: Republic of Macedonia, State Election Commission, Parliamentary Elections 2002¦.

Regarding domestic observers, in the middle of the lower part of the badge the text domestic observer followed by the observer-s name and surname is written on a gray background.

Regarding foreign observers, in the middle of the lower part of the badge the text international observer followed by the observer-s name and surname is written on a green background.

Regarding the interpreters, in the middle of the lower part of the badge the text interpreter followed by the interpreter-s name and surname is written down.

On the back of the badge the seal of the State Election Commission is applied. The State Election Commission shall revoke the authorization to observe the elections and identification documents (badges) issued to domestic and foreign observers, if it determines that the observers work contrary to the rules of the Code.

The State Election Commission